At this point, it’s been confirmed beyond doubt that the partnership between Polyphony Digital and Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (view the original announcement) will greatly influence the gameplay structure of the incoming GT Sport. But by how much?
So far we know that the game will introduce the FIA Online Championship to GT players, allowing them to represent a nation or a car manufacturer of their choice. Watching live broadcasts of weekend races will be possible through the ‘GT Live’ option, another present brought in by the partnership. This feature in particular is interesting, as it could open up a vast number of possibilities based on what shape it takes in the retail version of the game.
During our recent interview with Polyphony Digital CEO Kazunori Yamauchi, he had this to say about the spectator mode:“In terms of the number of spectators possible, there won’t be any limitations. The feature is actually only about 10% done, so once we finish it completely it will support much more dynamic broadcasting, from several viewpoints such as design, choreography and similar.”
Of note is the mention that there will be no limit to the number of spectators. This has potentially huge implications, especially if in-game spectators have access to features during viewing that a typical streaming avenue like Twitch or Youtube do not offer.
In addition, Kazunori also touched on certain social features. With regards to the popular ‘Clubs & Community’ features from GT6, the PD head had this to say about their presence in GT Sport:“Rather than copy-pasting the system over, you could say that we really just redesigned it altogether. So, it’s not like you’ll be losing any features, that were available before, but all those media features will be more integrated, and appear naturally.”
We hope to hear more details on these subjects before GT Sport arrives on store shelves this coming November.

Easily one of the most surprising features unveiled for GT Sport last month, a livery editor has finally arrived in the franchise. As a highly-requested feature, players were eager to dive into the editor at the Copper Box, but found everything bar the basic top menu locked out for public use. While we got a quick peak at the feature in action in the latest trailer, it raised as many questions as it answered. When asked about the level of control players will have in the livery editor, Kazunori Yamauchi had this to say:“There will be two steps in that, where the first step is really a system by which you can take stickers from a sticker library, and project them onto the cars, and then the next step beyond that is being able to design those stickers yourself. So it’ll consist of those two separate tools.”
Depending on what tools are available for players to create these custom stickers, the livery editor could prove to be a huge boon to designers, as well as those that run dedicated racing leagues. The trailer showcased the recreation of an Audi R8 already present in the game, with elements of its design able to be selected individually and modified. This suggests that players can tailor an existing car to their own preferences – different number plate, different drivers listed – while still keeping an established overall design.
The livery editor certainly looks like it will cover almost all aspects of the car too – not just the bodywork, but wheels and windshield banners – if this menu screen is any indication:
Our man Jordan noticed that helmets and race suits featured prominently in menus of GT Sport, both of which saw growth during the PS3 era. When asked, Yamauchi confirmed that those too will be customizable, though didn’t expand on how deep that aspect of personalization will go.
Livery designing can become a game within itself. Titles like Need For Speed and Forza have fostered communities around the creative talents, in some cases tying designs to the in-game economy, providing players with an additional credit stream. We’re anxious to find out how Polyphony have tied this feature to the more social aspects of the game.
Who knows, we might be able to recreate some of these old Gran Turismo designs…
Finally, Kazunori also had some information on the Photomode aspect of GT Sport. The good news is that the traditional on-track Photomode (Race Photo Mode) will return, as expected. The bad news relates to the new Scapes feature. With over 1000 locations apparently set for inclusion, there were bound to be limitations, and our active Photomode community voiced concerns over limited camera movement. “The camera itself, you can pan or tilt,” Kazunori said, “but you can’t really move the camera.” Unfortunate, but expected given the massive number of locations on offer.
That concludes all of the coverage relating to our London Q&A session with Kazunori. If you missed anything, here’s the full run-down:

Since the reveal of Gran Turismo Sport, Kazunori Yamuchi has once again been pushed into the spotlight of the broader gaming media – a new iteration of Gran Turismo brings in a level of hype unmatched by many series in the genre and gaming medium as a whole. One such outlet who are covering the recent unveiling of Gran Turismo Sport is Red Bull’s gaming section, who conducted an interview with Kazunori himself. Whilst a lot of the article reiterates points we already knew and reported on, there are some interesting statements from the head of Polyphony Digital.
Kazunori goes into more detail about ‘Scapes’, GT Sport’s new Photomode feature that will allow players to take an unlimited number of cars to many locations across the planet. The interview confirms that 1,000 environments have been photographed for use and images will be able to be recreated for viewing at a 4k resolution. Describing the mode as ‘Photoshop but smarter’ in the article, Yamauchi clarifies:

“Every picture contains spatial and light information, so whenever you move a car around in the environment, all shadows are adjusted in real-time. And what’s probably my favourite, you can actually let the car drive. Like you can let it pass the Royal Palace of Tokyo or the Guggenheim Museum in New York and it looks like a real shot.”

The most interesting comment from this quote is how the car movement is described as letting the car ‘drive’. So far in footage we’ve seen cars being placed in where they need to be for a photo but this suggests that we can actually get some sort of drivable area the car can ‘auto-drive’ in as we snap pictures – which would certainly change the level of quality photographers will be able to capture in these new environments.
Red Bull make a note-worthy comment when talking about the 4K resolution ‘Scapes’ can produce: they point out that Sony asked them not to mention any questions relating to the much-rumoured PS4 Neo. This can be interpreted in a positive or negative light, but the fact Sony felt the need to allude to it at all could point out that a new hardware announcement (and any subsequent GT Sport enhancements) may be on the horizon.
Unlike the majority of the PS3’s lifespan, where Kazunori often alluded to pushing the system to the limit, he again has insisted that GT Sport is currently at “50 to 60 percent of what we want to achieve on PS4.” highlighting that there is definite room for improvement in the eyes of PD when it comes to GT Sport and GT7 in the future.
Kazunori’s ambition for cars is often explored in interviews like these and he uses an anecdote about GT’s first foray into car development and design – The Red Bull X2010 – to talk about how it came to be:

“I sat down with some friends and we joked around that idea of a street car, that could compete with one from Formula One”

Modestly put, the friends he is talking about here are none other than Adrian Newey and Sebastian Vettel – two very important personnel in the world of open wheel racing. “At the end of the day – we’re just a bunch of car nerds” Kazunori remarks, showing the boyish enthusiasm that led to the creation of the now-iconic futuristic racer.
The idea of a fan-based engine was engineered by Adrian rather than Kazunori who was more keen to the idea of having enclosed wheels and an F1-like rear wing. However between the three, the task of designing, building and driving the vehicle gave GT a truly unique car that could have been the first step toward the Vision GT project that arrived in GT6.The infamously fast X2010 – Image taken from the Red Bull website.

Although the interview doesn’t give too much new information, Kazunori’s elaboration on the much quoted “50% completion” statement and small detailing of the ‘Scapes’ mode gives a bit more direction to what we can expect when GT Sport launches this November.

GT Sport was shown off in its home country last weekend, where Polyphony continued to court the media with numerous interviews. Speaking with Famitsu magazine, Kazunori expanded on the subject of post-release support for the title.
As we’ve previously reported, the topic of DLC has already been broached in the Polyphony offices. Kazunori re-stated to Famitsu that he cannot go into specifics regarding the program, but it’s what he says after that proves interesting:“Naturally we’re planning DLC and updates after launch, but I can’t go into specifics at this point in time. What I can tell you is that you won’t be kept waiting for a year like with GT5. I think a certain period of time after release we’ll start putting it out fairly quickly.”
The comparison to Gran Turismo 5 is an interesting one. As Kazunori points out, that game didn’t receive DLC until almost a year in, which largely arrived with a price tag attached. Meanwhile, GT6 received regular updates pretty much from the drop of the green flag, largely focused on the Vision GT project, but with real world cars sprinkled in here and there. The main difference with the most recent game was that all of these updates arrived for free.
Could GT5 as a reference point hint at a plan involving paid DLC? Or was Yamauchi’s answer simply meant to reinforce the idea that GT6’s quicker approach will continue on in the same manner with GT Sport? Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait for answers as long as we waited for DLC for GT5!Thanks to Imari for the translation!

In a slightly unexpected move, Sony has unveiled the latest Gran Turismo Sport trailer mere days before the year’s biggest gaming event. The title confirms this is indeed the footage intended for E3 next week, and while it contains a lot of familiar content for those who’ve kept track of our GT Sport coverage the last month, it does hold some welcome surprises.
One of the first things shown in the trailer – with the familiar Moon Over the Castle playing over top – is the Group B Mustang rally car. This evocatively-named category in GT Sport hasn’t been expanded on much yet, but this marks our first look at the car in motion, after previously being shown as an early-access pre-order bonus. It’s joined by a new Group 3 Mustang (shown at 1:26), which looks right at home amongst the other Polyphony-crafted race cars, like the Alfa 4C and Jag F-Type.
The trailer also expands on the social aspect of the game, with a substantial Timeline that keeps track of friends’ actions throughout the game. Racers will have an enlarged profile section as well, which houses plenty of interesting features. Of note are the Driver Class ranking, Sportsmanship Points, and Items:Polyphony’s habit of using different types of grapes as mock-up names continues!

GTPlanet members will hear (and see) our very own Tom lending his commentary talents to the trailer shortly after that, with lots of footage from both the Copper Box event and last weekend’s exhibition in Japan. With those events acting as examples, Polyphony goes on to confirm the GT Sport Live broadcast feature will play host to weekly finals. After that, there’s a recap of both the livery editor (where it’s confirmed players will be able to share their creations) and Photomode Scapes. Eagle-eyed viewers will note El Capitan back in a Gran Turismo game, though only as a photo location.
With Sony pushing this out into the wild today, on the back of the confirmation of the PS4 Neo’s existence, we’re extra curious about what’s in store for GT Sport next week at E3.

One of the more curious announcements to come from Polyphony Digital’s partnership with the FIA is the “digital license” – a new type of racing license sanctioned by the FIA and local governing bodies of motorsport in countries around the world.
Although “racing licenses” are not difficult to obtain, they are required to go racing in any FIA-sanctioned event, and the FIA Online Championship in Gran Turismo Sport will be no exception.Photo by Julian Hunt.

While speaking with Kazunori Yamauchi recently, we had a chance to clarify some details on exactly what the qualifications for the FIA Digital License will be and how players will be able to obtain it.
Kazunori emphasized these details are not finalized, as discussions with the FIA are ongoing, but they still help give us an idea of what to expect. With that said, here are the tentative conditions for obtaining an FIA Digital License:

Completion of GT Sport’s “Racing Etiquette Mode”, which includes guides and tests on the following:

Signals

Flags

Safety Car protocols

Cautions

Proper driving conduct and etiquette

Acheive “silver” or better results in all of GT Sport’s “Campaign Mode” events

In addition to these requirements, drivers may be required to pay a licensing fee to the governing body of motorsport in their country. “We [Gran Turismo] won’t be taking any money for it, but to the FIA or your local automobile club, you may need to pay an annual fee, which is normal for any racing license,” Kazunori said.
Of course, the subject of participating countries is still an area of concern. Major territories like the United States, Canada, Germany, France, and Japan have yet to be confirmed, although Kazunori re-assured us they are working hard to bring more local governing bodies into the program. “It’s a concern of all automobile organizations around the world – to increase the number of people involved in motorsports – so this is a program that supports that idea.”

We first reported on the Aston Martin/Red Bull collaboration back in March, and today, the sheets were pulled back for its first public showing. Dubbed AM-RB 001 – a name likely to be replaced with one starting with V when deliveries start in 2018 – it promises a level of road car performance practically unheard of until now.
While many of the details are still under wraps, the boys from Gaydon have confirmed that a clean-sheet V12 design will find its way behind the driver, breathing without the aid of turbos. The 7.0L will be extremely high-revving, as the target is the golden 1:1 horsepower/kilogram ratio, with the car expected to land under the four-digit mark on the scales.As if that’s not enough, Aston Martin has also confirmed an even more extreme track-only version will be produced, with projected performance on par with the LMP1 racers of today. Including 25 of this extreme variant as well as any prototypes, production will end somewhere between 99 and 150 units, according to Aston CEO Andy Palmer. Whatever the car does end up being called, it will be built at the same plant in Gaydon that constructed Aston’s previous hypercar, the One-77.
As befitting a car with a multi-million pound price tag, no stone has been left unturned in the hunt for performance. The Red Bull-designed transmission will have no reverse gear, with the car instead relying on a battery for backing up, as well as an additional performance boost moving forward. The brakes drop the ceramic aspect of the fashionable carbon-ceramic discs found elsewhere on road cars. According to our friends at Evo, not a single piece of the entire car is crafted from steel.
With Adrian Newey, Red Bull’s record-setting design guru, behind the project, there are not only obvious F1 influences, but also nods to his virtual work. The X-series of cars in Gran Turismo are hinted at in the vast amounts of negative space behind the front wheels, a sort of underbody alternative to what we’ve seen recently on Ford’s GT. Looking towards the front of the car through these cutaways, we see the inboard push-rod suspension, which Newey promises will help provide the dual-personalities needed for a car of such broad talents:“I’ve always been adamant that the AM-RB 001 should be a true road car that’s also capable of extreme performance on track, and this means it really has to be a car of two characters. That’s the secret we’re trying to put into this car – the technology that allows it to be docile and comfortable, but with immense outright capabilities.”
Aston Martin’s lead designer, Marek Reichman, has imbued the model with a handful of family features. The swollen, flowing arches hark back to the DBR1 sports racers of the 50’s, while the trademark grille shape is present up front as well as in the small, active rear spoiler. The floating roof line ties the AM-RB to the recently-revealed DB11 grand tourer, though that’s about where the similarities end between the two cars.
To our eyes, the Red Bull X2010 and Aston’s Vision GT are the most obvious influences, with a pinch of Maserati’s glorious Birdcage 75th concept from 2005 in the smooth curve of the passenger cell and the tautly-drawn bodywork. There’s also shades of Jaguar’s sadly-cancelled C-X75 project in the stubby nose.
Plenty of companies have made bold performance claims before only to fall short, but with the engineering might of Adrian Newey and the Red Bull team behind this project, we wouldn’t bet against them. Roll on, 2018.

Much like the automotive sector, China is a huge market for gaming. Sony is capitalizing on that with a tour of the country over the next week, and Gran Turismo Sport will feature heavily at all three planned events.
Things kick off in Shanghai this Wednesday, where Sony will hold its press conference ahead of the Chinajoy game fair opening the following day (July 28). According to a tweet from ZhugeEX, Kazunori Yamauchi himself will be present at the show (hat tip to queleuleu).
Yamauchi will also be appearing in Hong Kong for the Animation-Comic-Game 2016 event. Running from July 29 to August 2, the event will continue Sony’s PlayStation VR push across the globe, providing players with the “largest PS VR experience center” in Hong Kong. Polyphony’s latest will have a dedicated portion of Sony’s exhibit, dubbed the “GT Sport Speed Experience Zone”, giving fans a chance to try out the game before its release on November 15th.
In addition, people attending the event in Hong Kong will get the chance to win a Thrustmaster T150 wheel. Kazunori will be fielding questions from the public, and the winner will be selected from those that take part.
GT Sport will also be present at the PlayStation Gaming Festival in Taipei, Taiwan, August 5–7. Here, a race between the head of Sony Interactive Entertainment Taiwan Limited (SIET) and the best Taiwanese Gran Turismo racer will be held. As with ACG, the latest public build of the game will be playable to visitors.
If you’re planning on visiting any of the events, don’t forget to share your experiences in our Gran Turismo Sport sub-forum.

One of the most well-represented racing classes in Gran Turismo Sport is set to see its ranks grow by at least one more car, if an Instagram post from endurance racer Matias Henkola is to be believed. During the Nürburgring 24 Hour race last month — where GT Sport was playable for fans — Henkola and the rest of the team had access to a special private build of the game, where their Walkenhorst race car was made available for crucial virtual seat time.
For those following Yamauchi’s recent motorsport exploits, this likely ranks low on the Surprise-O-Meter: the car was draped in a PlayStation- and GT-heavy livery, after all. Cars that the Polyphony CEO drives have a habit of making their way into the games, too: look no further than the Schulze GT-R’s.
Regardless, considering how many GT3-class cars have already been spotted (check out GTPlanet’s Master Car & Track List), it’s good to hear players could have another option available to them come November. If the M6 GT3 is included, it would make BMW the first marque in the game to have two offerings for the Gr. 3 class.
With around half the 140-strong car list left to be revealed, we hope to get confirmation on the M6 GT3 — and any other surprises — over the coming months.Thanks to queleuleu for bringing this to our attention!